FIA WTCC newsletter 13
THREE MEN IN ONE POINT
SEAT Sport team-mates Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini arrive
in Puebla as co-leaders of the Drivers' Championship after
they won one race apiece in the season's opening meeting at
Curitiba, Brazil.
"After only one event it is difficult to say that any
team is the favourite to win the championship. We have exactly
the same chances as BMW," said Muller.
And Tarquini agreed: "SEAT won in Brazil but we didn't
dominate the races. The BMW was the fastest car. What we did
better than the rest was to exploit our car's performance
in both the qualifying and the races."
Reigning World Champion Andy Priaulx is currently lying third,
only one point behind. "In our last visit here in 2006
we all had to cope with difficult conditions as the track
was breaking up. However, I did prove you must never give
up as I battled through to seventh position in race two from
18th on the grid, despite a full 80 kilos of ballast. I am
confident the organisers have done their best to improve all
the facilities," said the BMW UK man.
DRIVERS MEET FANS IN PUEBLA
The FIA WTCC drivers took part this afternoon in a promotional
event that officially launched the championship's second race
meeting to be held this weekend in Puebla, Mexico.
The event was organised with the support of Puebla's Municipal
Institute for Sports.
Onboard pick-up trucks, the drivers paraded through the city's
main streets - including the elegant Avenida Juárez
- until they reached the Zócalo, Puebla's central square,
where Rydell's SEAT, Larini's Chevrolet and Romanov's BMW
were exhibited in front of the Cathedral.
At the Zócalo, the drivers attended a one-hour autograph
session that attracted a large crowd.
IN MEMORY OF DAVID LESLIE
Former Touring Car ace and Eurosport commentator David Leslie
perished last Sunday at the age of 54 in a private plane crash
in Farnborough, Kent. Leslie was killed along with the two
pilots and two other passengers, one of them was motorsport
team boss Richard Lloyd.
During his long racing career Leslie was five times Scottish
karting champion before winning the British Formula Ford title
in 1978. He had spells in Formula Three, Sportscars and Thunder
Saloons before establishing himself as a race winner in the
British Touring Car Championship at the wheel of Vauxhall,
Honda and Nissan cars, some of them prepared by Chevrolet
WTCC team boss Ray Mallock.
Later he brought his expertise and enthusiasm to Eurosport
and for nearly ten years provided racing analysis co-commentating
the FIA European and World Touring Car Championships together
with Martin Haven.
THOMPSON TO RACE IN DENMARK
James Thompson will drive for Hartmann Honda Racing in the
Danish Touring Car Championship, when he will not be racing
for N.technology in the FIA WTCC.
The team announced that - with the support of Honda Denmark
- they have signed an agreement with Honda Motor Europe and
their technical partners JAS Motorsport to field two Honda
Accord Euro R cars fitted with the newest engine and suspension
specifications.
With the co-operation of N-technology, Hartmann Honda Racing
will run one car for James Thompson alongside that of their
regular driver Jens Reno Møller.
"I will not want to make up the numbers in Denmark,"
James Thompson said. "The guys at Hartmann are very enthusiastic,
and I see no reason why we cannot win races or be on the podium
consistently."
EUROSPORT LIVE COVERAGE FROM PUEBLA
Saturday, 5th: Qualifying - LIVE Eurosport 2, 23.00/23.45
Sunday, 6th: Warm up - LIVE Eurosport 2, 16.00/16.30
Race 1 - LIVE Eurosport International, 19.00/20.00
Race 2 - LIVE Eurosport International, 22.00/23.00
Times are CET (Central European Time)
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